Flights in and out of Birmingham were suspended<\/a> for more than five hours on Wednesday after a light aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing<\/a>.<\/p>\n Police, fire and ambulance crews all went to the runway as the emergency developed. Three people on board the aircraft were treated at the scene, one suffering minor injuries, West Midlands Police<\/a> said.<\/p>\n Passengers faced hours of delays, even after the runway reopened, including many in Europe trying to fly back to Birmingham.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n The plane was understood to be a Beechcraft B200 Super King Air (USG)<\/p>\n Airport bosses announced at around 2.40pm on Wednesday that the runway was temporarily closed. It reopened shortly before 8pm.<\/p>\n The light aircraft was heading for Belfast International Airport<\/a> when it developed landing gear problems.<\/p>\n Footage and photographs appeared to show a small white turboprop plane, understood to be a Beechcraft B200 Super King Air, lying flat on the airport tarmac.<\/p>\n The same type of aircraft was also involved in a crash at London Southend Airport in July, which killed four people.<\/p>\n The Air Accidents Investigations Branch (AAIB) said it had started an investigation, with a team including \u201cinspectors with expertise in aircraft operations, engineering and recorded data\u201d sent to the scene.<\/p>\n Airport chiefs apologised for the disruption.<\/p>\n Flights originally scheduled to depart as far back as 2.10pm were taking off after the runway re-opened, but others faced delays as late as 12.10am on Thursday, according to Birmingham Airport<\/a>\u2019s website.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Passengers faced delays (Sophie Robinson\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n Woodgate Aviation, the owner of the plane, said: \u201cThe aircraft returned to Birmingham and made an emergency landing<\/a> and the main under-carriage collapsed on touch-down.\u201d<\/p>\n Diana Celella, an interior designer from Sutton Coldfield, was due to return from Lisbon on a Ryanair flight departing at 8.20pm after a holiday, but saw online that the flight was delayed by nearly three hours.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cMy husband and I have had a lovely holiday, so it’s a real shame to end it with this delay. <\/p>\n \u201cThe atmosphere among fellow passengers is mostly resigned – everyone we’ve spoken to recognises that it’s out of Ryanair’s control.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Small-plane-at-Birmingham-Airport.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Passengers](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/01K205EPP70XTV7VERQW364CDQ.jpg\")
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